William Hogarth - Marriage A-la-Mode: 4 The Toilette [c.1743], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.
After the death of the old Earl the wife is now the Countess, with a coronet above her bed and over the dressing table, where she sits. She has also become a mother, and a child's teething coral hangs from her chair. The lawyer Silvertongue invites her to a masquerade like the one to which he points, depicted on the screen. A group of visitors on the left listen to an opera singer, possibly a castrato, accompanied by a flautist.
An African page on the right unpacks a collection of curiosities bought at auction, including a figure of Actaeon. The paintings on the right wall show 'Lot and his Daughters' and 'Jupiter and Io.' On the left wall is a portrait of the lawyer and 'Rape of Ganymede.'
[Oil on canvas, 70.5 x 90.8 cm]
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